Blood Sharing

Chapter 25: Midnight

Song: Midnight- Coldplay

A/N: So glad we've picked up some new readers! I hope you're enjoying. You can follow vampmer on tumblr if you want updates/notifications about new chapters etc. As always I REALLY appreciate reviews. Even if it's just to let me know you enjoyed it. Thanks!

Elena was aware of hushed voices and softness. She'd been drifting in and out of consciousness over the past 2 days. She'd been aware of Damon feeding her blood bags and his own blood. She had no energy for anything but drinking and sleeping. Her insides and outsides burned. Occasionally she'd hear Damon talking to her quietly, touching her hair, kissing her forehead.

Now she was slowly waking, and Stefan and Damon were looking down at her. "Mmm." She groaned.

"Hey sunshine." Smiled Damon, pushing her hair out of her face.

"You were out for a few days." Remarked Stefan.

"Your mom?" asked Elena.

"Oh, she was in the bottom of the ocean for a while. But I'm sure she woke up and took off. I'm sure she'll be back too." Frowned Damon.

"He didn't kill her. Well, the true death. He just snapped her neck to get her away from you." Explained Stefan. "Do you have any idea why she took you?"

Damon and Stefan had been trying to figure it out between the two of them. What was it about Elena that would prevent Damon from surviving whatever war their mother believed was coming? What did that even mean?

"I don't know. She kept me pretty drugged. Something about the doppelganger thing…" groaned Elena reaching for a blood bag that Damon was passing her.

"She's your mother Damon." Added Elena.

"Clearly she isn't. My mother should know better than to go after my wife." Growled Damon.

"I don't understand it but she thought she was protecting you. She's your mother Damon… you've only got one." Said Elena softly.

"You know I really hate that saying. You ever notice how a person could have a dead beat Dad, and everyone celebrates the kid kicking them out of their life? But have a terrible mother and you're supposed to forgive them time and time again because they gave birth to you. You spend the rest of your life trying to pay that back and you're expected to put up with everything." Complained Damon.

"Damon has…" began Stefan "A lot of resentment issues with our mother. He resented her for dying and leaving us alone with Father."

"Because I was always a disappointment to dead ol dad." Snorted Damon.

"Well, I had a birth mother and an adopted mother and they're both dead. Your mother is alive Damon. Maybe she's not that crazy. Maybe there is something going on. You should at least find her and hear everything she has to say." Suggested Elena. She couldn't argue with his point. She hadn't wanted a relationship with her birth mother.

"The thing is: she could have done that. But she didn't. She could have contacted me any time during the past 150 years and she didn't. She could of even shown up recently and NOT kidnapped you, and just explained whatever the hell she's afraid of. Some war. Aren't you tired of the always impending doom?" Damon rolled his eyes as he marched around Elena's bed.

"Either way, mother will wait for another day." Added Stefan. "You need to rest, and then we can all put our heads together and figure out what to do about her."

"As if." Groaned Damon. "I have no interest in that woman."

Elena and Stefan exchanged knowing looks. They may not have had a telepathic connection, but they both knew Damon wasn't wriggling out of this one. Evangeline knew some things they didn't. It needed investigating. But Elena couldn't argue. She was still exhausted. The vervain poisoning had left her weak. A weak vampire was not a good vampire to be.

"Okay." Said Stefan standing up from his spot near Elena's side where he'd been kneeling. "I'm going to catch up with the others, let them know Elena's awake, and go hunting." He announced. "I'll check in on you in a few hours. Keep drinking the blood. You've never had this level of vervain poisoning- it takes a while to recover from." And with that he was gone and Damon and Elena were alone.

"Damon…" Elena began softly, wanting to explain everything. But Damon simply crawled onto the bed like a cat, and buried his head in Elena's stomach. He let out a huge sigh as his body relaxed.

"I was insane without you." He said after a few moments of silence.

Elena was afraid to ask if he'd done anything bad in her absence. Damon had a habit of losing it and taking it out on people. He'd come a long way… but Elena always worried he was his own worst enemy.

"What happened?" asked Elena quietly and carefully.

In the darkness before the dawn
In the swirling of this storm
When I'm rolling with the punches
And hope is gone
Leave a light, a light on

"I woke up. You weren't there. I'm not going to lie- there was that fleeting moment where I was afraid you'd left." Said Damon in a whisper.

"Oh Damon. My home. Always waiting for the rug to be pulled out from underneath you." She kissed his hair and rubbed his shoulders.

"I don't think that way often. But it's hard to erase almost centuries of telling yourself you don't deserve love." Admitted Damon. He was quiet for a few more moments before continuing. "I looked for you, everywhere. When I called home and no one remembered you, I realized you were taken."

"Your mother showed up at our wedding." Confessed Elena. Damon's head shot up and he stared at her accusingly. "Stefan asked me not to tell you. I didn't like the idea of hiding something from you on such an important day but I didn't want to upset you. I didn't think it would cause… well… this."

Damon flopped his head back down on her stomach. "I guess I can't be mad. It's not like I haven't kept things from you in an effort to keep you safe. But I'd rather it not become a habit now that we're married."

"Agreed." Giggled Elena.

"Why the giggle?" asked Damon with a smirk.

"Married." She said. "Married."

Damon lifted his head and stared across her chest at her face. He even giggled a bit. "What's so funny about that?"

"It's not funny. It's just fun to say. Married."

"Mmmm" murmured Damon, kissing her stomach. "You should try saying Mrs. Salvatore."

Elena grinned, still feeling tired. "I was worried I'd never see you again." She said quietly, barely above a whisper.

Damon looked up at her again from her stomach, his eyebrows furrowed and he frowned. "It's better not to think that way anymore. We're here together now."

"It was like when you died…" she stammered out. "I just thought, I thought that was it. It was my turn to die and I'd be on the other side and never be able to touch you again." Her eyelids brimmed with unshed tears, threatening to spill over.

"Hey.. shh.." said Damon wiping them from her eyes and pushing her hair back. "Our blood bond makes us strong Elena. Death didn't stop us before. Klaus didn't stop us. We will be okay."

"I'm just worried about the things your mother said." Admitted Elena.

"My mother was clearly crazy." Scoffed Damon.

"But something made her that way." Replied Elena. "She was sincerely afraid for you and Stefan. She really believes something is coming. Something that will destroy you and Stefan and I'm going to help it. That's what she thinks."

"Well, are you planning on destroying me?" asked Damon with a mischievous grin.

"No. But I'm serious." Wined Elena.

"I am too." Said Damon sitting up and brushing his own hair back with his fingers. "We have been through hell and back since I met you Elena. And you've been through hell and back before you met me too. We can survive whatever this crazy world throws at us and if some big bad thing is coming for me… we will figure it out. It wouldn't be the first time."

Elena was not convinced, but she had no other points left to argue. "Just come here." She groaned her arms out stretched.

Damon draped himself across her, his head on her chest, while she ran her fingers through her hair. "How do you feel about seeing your mother- bedsides the wife kidnapping and crazy…?" Asked Elena.

"Of you know, the usual." Replied Damon. "I'd like to go on some sort of a ripper spree…"

Elena looked at him shocked. "I'm kidding I'm kidding. Yeah I'm pretty pissed she let us think she died. I mean it's not like our lives haven't been in danger before, and she never showed up then so why now? It's all Katherine. I guess I have to forgive her a little bit. Katherine is the master manipulator. She always gets what she wants."

Elena nodded in agreement. "You look like her." She added. "She does your eyebrow thing."

"What eyebrow thing?" asked Damon, doing the eyebrow thing. Elena laughed. "See that's what I want to hear." He smiled. "It's all over now, we can get back to, well… being married."

Elena nodded. "Being married." She smiled. "It's pretty surreal. Can you believe Klaus showed up to the wedding?"

Damon burst out laughing. "I think I'm more shocked by that than my mother." He admitted. They both laughed. "You looked beautiful. I only wish we could have enjoyed our honey moon a little longer. But I want to take you to travel this summer a bit. Before you go off to college."

Elena nodded. "We need to look for a place close to Whitmore." She added.

"You don't want to live in residence with Caroline and Bonnie?" asked Damon.

"I'm married now. I want to live with you." She smiled up at him. Damon kissed her nose.

"I suppose Stefan could handle chez Salvatore for a while. We could find a little apartment close to campus. I'll have to keep an eye on you I'm sure. Don't want any of those college freshmen stealing my girl." He teased, and Elena laughed.

"I'll probably have to get a part time job. The inheritance Jeremy and I have been living off of is almost dried up, and we didn't get much for the insurance money from the house burning down." Admitted Elena.

"Money is never a problem for vampires." Said Damon. "That's what compelling is for."

"But I want to do it the right way." Insisted Elena.

"Of course you do." Replied Damon with pretend annoyance.

"I'm serious." She laughed. "I want this experience, of scraping by and paying for myself and eating ramen noodles."

Damon laughed. "Well I want you to have everything you deserve. There's no reason why you can't have human experiences. Vampire or not."

"Thank you." She brushed a quick kiss against his lips. They stared at each other for a half a beat before Damon went in for a deeper kiss, feeling the pulse of their blood bond. He stroked Elena's face and then his fingers slid down her arms and wrists, winding their way through her fingers and splaying them against the bed. He arched into her a little, and a small moan escaped her.

Millions of miles from home
In the swirling, swimming on
When I'm rolling with the thunder
But bleed from thorns
Leave a light, a light on

Elena enjoyed the sensation of Damon gently pinning her down. Her mind would try to wander to the terror she was feeling only days ago, but with Damon close to her like this their blood bond would trump everything. Anytime a negative thought entered, the blood gently pushed it away until all she saw, felt, and breathed in was Damon. It was odd how someone could seem so new, even after only being apart for a short while. The taste of his lips against hers, the hint of lavender in the air that meant Damon had been doing a lot of thinking in the tub, his smooth but hard skin against hers…

Damon began to kiss down her neck in a little trail, and his fangs protruded, barely grazing her skin. Blood bonding was becoming more to them than sex. The bond was so intense and unique every time that sex only served to enhance it- for it paled in comparison. The anticipation of waiting for Damon to drink from her was overwhelming for Elena. Her blood rushed through her ears, screaming at her to be one with him. But still he kissed. Keeping her waiting. Making her want it bad. Flexing that little bit of power that they both had over each other.

Finally, when she could take it no more, his teeth pierced her skin and she felt the sudden rush of release. Her blood, power, memories, everything flowed into Damon as he drank from her. Damon could taste the trauma of the past few days. He focused on it, willed it out of her, so he could consume it and take it away from her forever. Elena let out a gasp feeling the anxious emotions leaving her. It wouldn't erase the experience or the memories… but with Damon as her mental guide they'd combat the trauma and it would have no hold over her.

She lingered like that for a few moments, letting him coax these things out of her, before plunging her own teeth into him. The feeling was more than euphoric. It was cosmic. Like so many times before, the stars whirled past them and they were mentally transported to a different plane that existed only inside of their blood bond. This time there was so much colour- like the northern lights, blasting about them. The light and stars swirled around them and Elena no longer felt like a desperate entity from Damon. She felt like they were truly one, experiencing this all from one perspective. When she breathed in, so did he. When she thought of something or felt it, so did he. She no longer even had to speak with him in their mind. She just knew what he was thinking and feeling because she was experiencing it. And they were both in awe taking in their surroundings.

Petals danced through the air around them and they both began to see happy images of each other's childhood. A small Damon playing cards with Stefan. Jeremy and Elena fishing at a creek. Things fast forwarded and they saw Elena as a teenager starting school, Damon going off to war. Then, they saw each other. Not as they were today, but in the moment they first laid eyes on each other. Elena saw herself, young, in a cheerleading uniform, pony tail up high, with skin that practically glowed despite the night. Elena could feel Damon's confusion thinking she was Katherine, this disappointment at finding out she wasn't, and the curiosity for who this girl was. She could also feel a faint attraction, totally uncontrolled. Damon was experiencing something similar. Shock at the handsome stranger speaking, curiosity, and a pull.

They mentally laughed together on this plane. They had come so far.

The stars and light continued to swirl around them, leaving them feeling strong, refreshed, and united. The bond was unlike anything else in the world.

When they finally broke it, they laid together on the bed unsure of how much time had passed, quietly panting from the exchange with their eyes closed and relaxed. Damon traced circles on Elena's stomach while he rested, feeling perfectly contented for the first time in days. Elena reflected on what she'd seen an experienced inside their bond.

In the darkness before the dawn
In the darkness before the dawn
Leave a light, a light on
Leave a light, a light on

They stayed that way for a while, simply revealing in the after-feeling of the bond. When Damon finally opened his eyes, he gasped. Elena became instantly alert, eyes flashing open, and staring at Damon who was staring at her.

"What is it?" she demanded. Wondering if he senses his mother nearby, or heard something she hadn't. Elena felt prepared for evil.

"Elena…" he stammered out, his eyes shining staring at her.

"What?" she asked nervously.

"It's you!" he pointed sitting up and looking down at her. He reached down and picked up her hand in his.

"What?!" she demanded.

"You're… your skin is… you're glowing!" Damon showed Elena her own dainty hand, emitting its own very noticeable white glow.